Paladin's Progress
by Googlyboo
Summary: A young girl starts out on her journey through Azeroth. My first story. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

It started out, unlikely enough, with a failed mugging.

In an alleyway in Stormwind city's Old Town, a paladin stared down at a small, half-starved human girl as she tried - and failed to menace him with a rusty dagger, which looked like it was more rust than steel. He honestly wasn't sure if he should laugh or pity her. Part of him found the completely amateur way she was standing, trying bravely to stare him down, incredibly funny. The other, kinder part of him saw that her eyes were half glazed over with extreme hunger, fear… And guilt. She obviously did not want to be here, doing this. She acted out of starved desperation, Arlo surmised.

But regardless of her reason, she could hardly have picked a worse target. Arlo Parkers stood six feet, 8 inches tall, and the skin showing under the Human's long traveling cloak revealed heavy, rippling muscles and a large, powerful looking battlehammer. His dark brown hair, just starting to show signs of graying, was cropped close to his head, and his face had a long, wicked scar running from his left temple, narrowly missing his pale, icy blue eye, curving around his chin, and disappearing under his chest armor. His nose was also bent painfully to the right, a souvenir of his first battle.

The girl, by comparison, stood four feet, eight inches tall, and was almost literally nothing but skin and bones. She had peach colored skin and vibrant, scarlet hair hanging messily around her gaunt shoulders. As she got a better look at the Paladin she was threatening, her eyes widened, and she began to shake, terrified, and dropped her dagger, the rusted, brittle blade snapping into two pieces as it hit the ground. She was in leagues over her head, and she knew it. She then simply dropped to her knees, hanging her head, waiting for the larger human to drag her off to prison, or kill her then and there.

Instead, Arlo knelt slowly, staring at her until she raised her head to look him in the eyes, chocolate brown meeting ice blue. Only then did he speak, as gently as he knew how, which was not gently at all.

"What's your name, child?"

Her voice small and scared, the girl answered, trying to look away from his icy, terribly focused stare, but trapped in it, like a rabbit petrified by a wolf's gaze.

"V-venjanca."

Raising an eyebrow, Alro nodded.

"Hmph. That's a nice name. And exactly what do you think you're doing, Venjanca?"

Beginning to shake even more, tears forming in her eyes, Ven lowered hung her head once more, answering in a voice filled with shame and regret.

"I… I was trying to rob, you, Sir."

Seeing the girl's abject shame and terror, Arlo realized his attempt at gentleness was only serving to terrify the would - be mugger more. Wanting to show her that he meant no harm, he placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him, scared brown eyes widening more than the paladin had previously thought possible.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Venjanca. I can see you're not a criminal. But you will be, if you keep trying to rob people. Where are your parents?"

"Father died last year. My mother left when I was born." She said in a dead voice, looking down.

"Is that so…" Arlo sighed heavily. Suddenly, he knew what he was going to do. As cold and icy as he seemed, Arlo Parkers was a Paladin, and he had a Paladin's heart. He simply could not leave this pitiful creature to starve, or become a real criminal, knowing he could've helped her. Grabbing her bony arm and lifting her to her feet, he sighed again.

"Come. Let's get you something to eat. Then, I'm finding somewhere for you to stay."

Venjanca stared at him in shock, the words taking a moment to register, before the image of the meal he had mentioned formed in her mind. Sumbling in her haste to keep up, she wondered at this extremely unlikely turn of events, never doubting the man for a second, despite her earlier fear of him.

"Th-thank you!" She squeaked out, head still spinning, as she struggled to keep up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Pig and Whistle and New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own WoW or anything mentioned in this story besides the characters and the story itself.

A/N: To clear things up some, Arlo is level 85, and Venjanca is level 2. I haven't decided on the new character mentioned at the end of the chapter yet, but probably be around level 20 for them. I'm also planning to only follow quest lines when it suits me. I feel the story would be boring and repetitive if all I did was copy paste quests most of you have already done. On that note, enjoy!

20 short minutes later, sitting across from her in the Pig and Whistle tavern in Stormwind's Old town, Arlo found himself staring in shock at the amount of food this four foot tall girl was eating.

"Er… Venjanca." The girl looked up, swallowing a piece of trout. "You're going to make yourself sick." "_Not to mention the damage she just did to my coin purse…" _He thought ruefully. But seeing how energetic his diminutive charge had become after eating something, he knew it had gone to a good cause.

"Besides, I think it's about time we head over to the orphanage. They'll take goo-" He stopped here, seeing the look in Ven's eyes change from curiosity to alarm.

"I rmf awn frin thu two munz ag…" She mumbled through a mouthful of bread. Covering his face with his left hand and sighing, Arlo held up his right to stop her. "Finish chewing before you talk, child. That's quite revolting."

Taking a moment to finish chewing, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment, she swallowed her food and repeated herself.

"I ran away from them two months ago…"

Raising an eyebrow as he sipped from his tankard, Arlo set the container down and looked at Venjanca suspiciously.

"Why? Matron Nightingale does her job well."

"It's not her." Ven said, smiling at the mention of the Orphanage's matron. "The other children… They used to beat on me a lot on account I'm so short for my age. I was tired of that place anyway. Matron was nice, but I damn sure don't wanna spend all my time in an orphanage. I decided I wanted to go see the world…"

At this, Arlo chuckled.

"And how did that work out?" He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Ven glared at him, bright red eyebrows twitching ominously. Then she seemed to remember her place, as her expression suddenly cleared and she merely looked embarrassed once more. "I did leave Stormwind…" She mumbled.

"Ah. I hope nothing happened. The world outside those gates makes the alleys of Old Town seem like a fortress of light and prosperity." He responded, suddenly interested again. "Well…" Venjanca sighed. "Not too well, though it almost went much worse. This guy in a red bandanna jumped out of a bush as soon as I stepped off the road and tried to knife me. He would've, too, but a guard shot him…. There was… blood everywhere." She shuddered.

"I'm sure there was. Azeroth is a cruel and dangerous place." the paladin said, sipping his mead and staring at her thoughtfully. Ven only nodded soberly in agreement. "So." He said, leaning back in his chair. "Is it safe to assume you've been cured of your desire to go adventuring?"

Hearing this, the girl snorted the water she was drinking through her nose in surprise and began coughing. Arlo merely stared at her, bemused. "I…uh!" She gasped, still spluttering water. "I… Elwynn was just a minor setback!" She chirped, grinning lopsidedly, teeth showing. I'm gonna see the world, dammit! And no two bit bandit is gonna stop me! I'm gonna-"

"It's nice to dream," Arlo interrupted. "But the only thing I see you doing is getting killed, eaten, or sold into slavery. If you're going to go gallivanting across Azeroth, you need armor. You need weapons. You need training. And most importantly, you need common sense."

"But I do so have common sense!" She said indignantly. "I can take care-" Raising his hand once more to silence her, Arlo smirked. "If you had common sense, child, you wouldn't have tried to rob me, and you'd still be starving right now." Hearing this, Ven had no argument. He had her there, and they both knew it. "And stop mouthing off. It's irritating." Arlo said flatly. "Let me think for a moment."

And think he did, thoughtfully rubbing the scar on his temple and sipping his mead at odd intervals. He had seen people like this girl before, while traveling through Outland, and Northrend after that. Young, full of pep and fire, without a lick of sense. Without someone to guide her, or keep her from running off, this young fool would most likely be dead within the next year. Suddenly, for the second time that day, Arlo Parkers knew exactly what he was going to do.

"Venjanca." He said, snapping the girl out of the light nap she had fallen into during his meditation. "What do you think of the different classes of soldier?" She stared curiously at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"Different… classes?" She said, quirking an eyebrow. Arlo stared at her. "How can you not… Well, I suppose you were thinking more about eating." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Anyway. Us humans are capable of being Mages, Paladins, Priests, Rogues, Warlocks, Warriors, and Hunters. Actually, some of us were made Death Knights as well, but thankfully, you've been spared that torment." He said, noticing that Venjanca was now listening intently. This was good. "I'm a Paladin. A powerful one, if I might boast. I was thinking about teaching you to be a Paladin, since you want to go adventuring so badly."

He was about to ask what she thought of that, but seeing the look on her face, he realized he knew the answer already. She looked almost transformed. Her eyes were glittering, she was grinning ear to ear, and practically shivering with excitement. "W-when do I start?" She chirped. Smiling back at her, Arlo rose from his seat. "Tomorrow. For now, though, let's get you some basic armor and a blade."

Recalling her mentioning being bullied for being short for her age, Arlo stared at Ven curiously. "Say, Venjanca. How old are you?"

Standing up and shoving a half eaten piece of bread into her pocket, Ven smiled brightly at him. "17." Arlo simply gawked for a second. "…You really _are_ short for your age…" Ven shrugged. "Matron Nightingale said it's cause I didn't eat enough when I was younger."

Turning so she couldn't see the pity and sorrow on his face, Arlo began walking out of the tavern. "I see. Well, let's see about that gear."

Two hours later, they left the Trade District, Venjanca now wearing a light chain mail shirt, leather gloves and boots, and chain mail leggings over fresh linen underclothes, with a short sword strapped to her left side. "Right." Arlo said, turning to Ven, who was busy admiring her new armor. "Pay attention." Seeing her snap her head up and listen, he continued. "We're going to Goldshire first. My other apprentice, Iasan, will want to meet you."

As they walked away from the city, a lean, sinewy man wearing a red bandanna jumped out from behind a tree, holding a dagger. Recognizing Venjanca as the easier target of the group, he lunged at her, only to have Arlo step forward - Faster than Ven thought someone wearing full Plate armor could move - , grab him by the throat, not even bothering to draw his weapon, and simply squeeze until the unlucky cutthroat's neck snapped against his Immolation Gauntlets. He then dropped the still twitching body and walked on, muttering something about idiots and motioning for Ven to follow. She did so, looking at the dead bandit and remembering that she had tried to rob his killer only a few hours ago. Shivering slightly in the Midsummer afternoon heat, she walked on.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - The Situation Turns Dire, in Goldshire

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in or related to World of Warcraft, Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment,(Except the characters and the story itself) yada yada yada, etc.

A/N: _I was originally planning to introduce one character this chapter, but inspiration struck, and poor Iasan lost the spotlight. And see, rogues aren't all jerks! Also, my personal character is one of the cast of the story. Bet you can't figure out who. And there's a dirty joke in here somewhere. I couldn't resist._

Venjanca trailed slightly behind Arlo on the road to Goldshire, staring in wonder at the scenery around her. She hadn't gotten a good look at the forest the last time she'd been outside Stormwind, and thus hadn't realized how stunning it all was. The animals playing and running about under the shadow of the trees, the sunlight shining through the tree's leaves, the clear difference in the freshness of the air, even this short distance from Stormwind… She gazed around in silent wonder, taking it all in. She had seen trees before, in Stormwind, but nothing like these. And the grass, the flowers! Dandelions, tulips, roses, heather. These, she had never seen before. Such delicate things never lasted long in the cold grey stone of the city.

"Where has this been all my life?" She whispered, entranced. In her awe, though, she neglected to remember the bandits hiding amid the beautiful scenery. Luckily for her, though, the robbers had seen the way her teacher had dealt with their brethren and decided they would be better off leaving the pair in peace.

"You say something, child?" Arlo said, turning his head to hear her better. "Nothing! Nothing at all. Sir." Ven responded, still enraptured by the trees. Arlo stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and walked on. All too soon, it seemed, (For Venjanca, at least) a small settlement with a prominent inn and blacksmith reared up ahead of them. "Well, there's Goldshire. Wait here while I fetch Iasan. I'll be a while. There's business I need to handle besides that, and I'm afraid you can't hear it." He said, walking towards the inn. Ven, however, was so busy looking around that she barely noticed.

"That's _it?_" Ven said, staring at the settlement. She had heard of Goldshire before, and the descriptions had made it sound, well - bigger. She had heard it described as a small town, but all she saw was an inn and a blacksmith. More of a rest stop than a town, really. But it was buzzing with activity nonetheless, adventurers of all classes running to and fro. Some were simply milling about the place, while others were sparring, dancing, chatting, and drinking. Some were even practicing their various professions, crafting items near the inn.

"Oi! You!" Someone shouted right behind her, making her jump and stumble over her own feet as she whirled around. Standing there, tapping his foot as he'd waited for her to catch her balance, was a male dwarf. He had long, glossy black hair pulled into a ponytail, twinkling(Thought not in a kind way) little brown eyes, and thick black sideburns going down his face, past his flat nose, and joining his short, plaited beard. He was also wearing a rather impressive set of plate armor, with long, curved spikes coming out of it's shoulder plates, and a wicked looking greatsword strapped to his back. As soon as he saw that Venjanca had seen him, he sneered at her, stepping back and raising his gauntleted hands tauntingly.

"What might ye be trainin t'be, girl? A punchin' bag?" He said, chuckling nastily. Ven felt her face turning red as she stared at the dwarf, confused. Who the hell was this dwarf, and why was he picking a fight with her? She hadn't been in Goldshire for more than thirty minutes, and already she had attracted trouble. "I - Paladin… Who are you? Why are you bothering me?" She said, backing up. The dwarf laughed at her again. "I'm Ivan, and I be botherin' you cause I feel like it. What're ye gonna do about it, tomato head?" he said, snickering. "I - you - _jerk!_" She said, glaring at her tormentor. "The hell is your problem? I don't even know you!" She hissed, unwittingly rising to the Dwarf's bait.

"Oh, gettin' mad, are we, red?" Ivan grinned. "Might ye be wanting to duel? Warrior versus Paladin?" Hearing this, Ven hesitated. She had always had an eye for guessing people's strengths, and she could tell without a second glance that this warrior could destroy her with all four limbs tied behind his back. She began to back away slowly, heading for the inn she had seen Arlo enter. The dwarf was not about to let his prey go so easily, however. Stepping forward with surprising speed, he positioned himself between her and the inn. Now too embarrassed and angry to think straight, Ven decided to just get it over with. "Fine! I.. I accept!" People around them were finally starting to take notice the exchange, as well. Some of the less savory types were starting to form a ring around the two, smiling and snickering amongst themselves. Others seemed to be watching out of boredom, while still more were forming their own section of the circle, watching the scene with concern.

A tall Night Elf rogue missing his left ear stepped forward, hooking his thumbs into his belt.

"He bothering you, kid?" The elf said, glancing at Ivan, who glared at him. "She's already accepted th' duel, grapeskin. Bugger off." The elf simply smiled at this, showing his teeth. "Grapeskin, eh? Well, if she's agreed, I can't stop it. You'd just better hope I never catch you sleeping, dirt farmer." With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, not wanting to see the coming injustice. Now looking a bit unnerved, Ivan turned back to Venjanca. "Th' duel will begin when this coin hits the ground." He said, pulling a gold coin out of his pocket. "Right…" she said, gulping. Ivan, seeing her nervousness, went back to his usual self. "Heh. What's th' matter, paladin? Haven't learned how ta' bubble yet?" He sneered. "Draw yer weapon." He said, flipping the gold coin into the air.

Suddenly, Venjanca's world slowed down. She found herself seeing the dwarf in incredible detail, while everything around him became blurry and unfocused. At first, Ivan stood there, perfectly still, staring at his coin as it neared the ground. Ven drew her shortsword and held it in front of herself like a stick, having never been instructed in swordplay. Then, the coin hit the ground, and the dwarf she was facing became a moving ball of steel and fury. For Ven, it was the strangest thing. She could see everything about the dwarf in incredible detail, and she knew how and where he was going to attack almost before he began. But when she tried to move out of the way, she found that her body simply couldn't keep with her eyes.

"_Uuurraaaa!" _The dwarf yelled as he charged, slamming the pommel of his greatsword into her stomach. She grunted in pain, dropping her sword and doubling over on the ground as the air was forced out of her lungs, gasping painfully as she tried to refill them.

"Wha's wrong, red? Lost yer hearthstone?" The dwarf chuckled nastily. "Get up! Fight back! Or maybe," he said, leaning in and sneering, "Yer scared? A cowardly Paladin?" he taunted, stepping back as Ven forced herself to her feet. "Not… scared… of you… Dirt Farmer." She sneered right back at him, catching her breath. She had taken far worse beatings than this.

"Oh?" Ivan said, a dangerous look entering his eyes. He had intended to hit her once more and declare the duel won, but hearing this stupid Human child fling the insult the Elf had used changed his mind. "Well, I'll jes' have at remedy that, then. Go on, then, lass. Come at me!" And she did. Venjanca knew she was going to lose this fight - if it could even be called that - But she also knew she wasn't going to lose by forfeit. She wasn't such a coward as to grovel and scrape simply because she was outmatched, and she intended to prove it. She charged, holding her blade off to the side, bringing it in in a short, clumsy slash.

The dwarf dropped his greatsword, leaned back, and plucked Ven's sword out of her hands, laughing uproariously. "Nice try, red, but I don' think this son o' Ironforge'll be goin' down _that_ easy!" He said, grabbing the back of her head roughly with his free hand. "Are ye scared o' me yet, paladin?" He jeered, throwing her headfirst into the ground. She winced and coughed in the dust, but did not answer the dwarf. Instead, she tried to rise to her feet once more, only to get a vicious kick in the ribs from Ivan. Collapsing once more, she cried out and held her side, whimpering. A very small group of people in the watching crowd snickered, while others alternated between giving Ivan the evil eye and turning away in disgust. None intervened, however.

"Well, I think that'll do, red." the warrior said, twirling her shortsword. "Jes' think I'll give ye something ta remember me by. A nice scar, maybe?" he said, grinning maliciously and holding the sword to her cheek., yanking her face up to the blade with the hold he had on her hair. Ven felt her eyes widen, her guts filling with ice.

"Why are you doing this!" She pleaded, terrified. The dwarf only chuckled and began to draw the blade back in preparation for his swing. Knowing she couldn't stop him, Ven simply shut her eyes, gritted her teeth, and waited for the pain to come.

But it didn't. There was a dead silence hanging in the air now. No snickering watchers, no sounds of disgust. Only silence. After a few silent, scared moments, Ven slowly opened her eyes - and gasped in shock. The one - eared Kaldorei rogue who had tried to stop the duel earlier had seemingly materialized behind the dwarf, twin daggers held to the warrior's throat. There was a cold, gleeful look on his face, and he was watching the dwarf with great interest, as if waiting for him to do something stupid. Ivan, by comparison, was trying as hard as he could to look behind him without moving his head, and failing miserably, of course. He didn't look so terrifying now. His beady brown eyes were wide with terror, and the hand holding her sword was trembling. Ven held perfectly still, not knowing what to make of the scene, and not wanting to slip with her blade hovering inches away from her face.

"_That… Is… __**Enough**_." The rogue hissed, practically quivering with bloodlust. "Drop the sword and let go of the human, dwarf. Slowly." The now terrified Ivan complied wordlessly, his trembling hand pulling the blade away from Ven's face, while his other released her hair. She slumped to the ground again, shaking, watching the exchange in awed silence. "Good boy." The Elf said, smiling viciously. Then, he deftly flicked one of his daggers around the dwarf's chin and upward, leaving a long, deep gash on his cheek. "Enjoy your new scar, dirt farmer." He said, pulling his other dagger away from Ivan's throat and stepping back, chuckling darkly. Ivan covered the gash on his cheek and glared at the girl and the elf hatefully, backing away.

"Yer grapeskin pal won't always be there te' save yer arse, paladin. I'll catch ye again…" He snarled, still backing up. "Fer now, though… Tell Arlo that Ivan Blackhammer says hello, won't ye?" He grinned cruelly at her, then stopped, noticing that the one-eared rogue was busily scribbling his name down in a small notebook he had produced.

He finished writing and glanced at Ivan, quill still hovering over his notebook. "Would you like to tell me your next mission, too, or do I need to see my friends at SI: 7 for that?" he said, grinning. Hearing this, Ivan turned white and fled, dragging his greatsword with one hand and covering the gash on his cheek with the other. The crowd began to slowly disperse, some cheering the rogue, others laughing at the dwarf's terror. The rogue turned to her, still grinning, and offered his hand, pulling Ven to her feet when she grabbed hold of it.

"Name's Satoshi." He said, stowing the notebook into one of his belt pouches.

She just stared, getting a good look at the rogue for the first time. When she had seen him earlier, his missing ear had caught her eye, but she'd been a tad preoccupied with getting her ass handed to her, and hadn't gotten a good look at him. He stood seven feet, 4 inches, with bright amber eyes, dark blue hair cut into a mohawk, light purple skin, and a medium length, untrimmed beard. His eyebrows slanted upwards in a way that made him look as if he had a permanent, comical scowl on his face. He was wearing full leather armor, painted black as a starless night, with high shoulder guards that were obviously meant to obscure the light of his eyes when seen from the side. Aside from his missing left ear, he had no scars she could see. Though his armor was clean, Ven could clearly see small cuts and bloodstains that he must not have been able to clean out or repair.

He was also wearing something that seemed fairly out of place on a rogue: A sparkling clean, bright blue and gold tabard, displaying the lion of Stormwind proudly on his chest. Not the best thing to hide in, but who was she to judge? With that thought in mind, she picked up and sheathed her shortsword, turning back to Satoshi. "Thank you. I don't know what that dwarf's problem is, but… he was gonna mess me up. I guess I'm just lucky you were-… erm…" She trailed off, staring at the rogue. He was picking his nose with his left index finger, and studiously avoiding looking at her. Pretending not to notice the gross display of bad hygiene, she spoke again.

"I-is something wrong, sir?" She asked, confused. Hearing this, Satoshi snapped his head around to look at her, as if noticing her for the first time. "Oh. Well, I was just thinking how rude it is to not give someone your name after they've supplied theirs. Specially if said someone just saved you from the ass kicking of the century. But I guess that's just me being weird." He sniffed, flicking a booger away disdainfully. Ven felt her face turning bright red, and she found herself tripping over her words in her haste to apologize. "I-Sorry - I just - I mean…" Satoshi rolled his eyes, chuckling to himself.

"Alright then, Miss "I - Sorry - I just - mean". Very interesting name there." He jeered, snickering. Her face turning ever brighter shades of red, Ven forced herself to speak clearly. "My name is Venjanca. And I'd like to apologize. It slipped my mind… I have no excuse. And… Well… Why did you help me?" She asked, staring at the Elf curiously. He smiled cheerily, twirling his finger through the air.

"I hate seeing short people get picked on. I have Gnome friends, see. How old are you, anyway?" He said nonchalantly, quirking an eyebrow. "Seventeen..." Ven mumbled, looking down.

"Wow… You really _are_ short. I thought you were like, twelve. I mean, all humans are short to me, but you look like a starved Dwarf." The rogue said, clearly poking fun at her now. Ven simply stood quietly, her face almost the same shade of bright scarlet as her hair. "Well!" Satoshi said, ruffling her hair with his left hand, then turning away. "It's been fun teasing you, but I have places to be, people to kill… You know how it is." Almost as an afterthought, he pulled a tiny crystal out of one of his bags and tossed it to her. She caught it, fumbling a bit.

"That's an attunement crystal, Venjanca." He said, suddenly becoming serious. "It's pretty simple to use. Just squeeze it tight, think of me, and we'll be able to talk to each other telepathically. Just don't pester me. I have things to do, like I said." With that, he walked a bit farther up the path, and simply vanished, leaving Ven standing, holding the crystal, dumbfounded. Then she yelled and jumped higher than she knew she could, for Satoshi's voice had just sounded off in her head, incredibly loud. _"HEY, VENJANCA! HOW ARE Y-Ha! You should've seen your face just now. Anyway. Call me if you ever wanna change classes. Midgets make awesome rogues. Peace!"_

Looking around and rubbing her head, Ven remembered the rogue's instructions, squeezing the crystal in her hand. "_I… Yeah… Am I really that short?." _She replied, still looking around. There was no response. Remembering his earlier warning, as well, she did not try to contact him again. Instead, she walked over to the entrance of the inn Arlo had entered, said next to the door, and waited, watching the various duels going on and trying to figure out ways she could've countered the dwarf's blows. She found that she could still predict the duelist's attacks fairly easily, but she knew from her fight with Ivan that she was in no shape to challenge any of them. She placed a hand over her ribs, wincing. She still had no idea what that dwarf's problem was. But she supposed she'd just have to talk to Arlo about it. He _had_ mentioned Arlo by name, so she assumed he'd know more. And so she waited, watching the duels.

Close to four hours later, Arlo finally exited the inn, followed by a human boy around her age - Iasan, she assumed. He stood five feet, nine inches tall, with a large, tightly curled black afro. His skin was a very dark shade of brown, almost black, and he had wolfish, amber eyes. He was almost as muscular as Arlo, though what was visible seemed to be much more defined. Waking up, standing slowly and stretching, groaning and wincing again - her ribs felt bruised - she fell in beside them.

"What took you so long?" She said, falling into step with them as they walked through the nearby clearing where most fairs and festivals in Goldshire were held, eyeing Iasan curiously. Arlo turned his head to see her better, still walking. "If I wanted you to know, I would've taken you with me. And why are you groaning? Did something happen?" Ven looked away, nervous. "Well… I'm just sore from sitting for so long." Iasan rolled his eyes, and Arlo simply glared at her. "Tell me." He ordered, stopping and turning to face her. Quailing at the look in his eyes, she told him everything that had happened, leaving nothing out. Arlo listened without interrupting, looking angrier and angrier with each new detail. When she told him how the rogue had saved her, his expression cleared somewhat, and he nodded in approval, though it was obvious he was still enraged beyond words.

When she was finished, Arlo was noticeably more composed, though his anger was still evident. His face was cold now, rigid, and he very slowly and deliberately pulled a cigar out of one of the small bags at his waist, lit it, and began puffing away at it. "Show me your ribs." He said flatly, shooting a stream of thick white smoke from his nose. Ven mutely complied, lifting her mail shirt and wincing once again. What she saw surprised even her. There was a deep, angry purple bruise trailing down her ribcage, and another, smaller one on her stomach.

"I… didn't realize he hit me _that _hard…" she mumbled, letting her shirt fall back down. Arlo merely grunted, shooting off another stream of smoke. He looked murderously angry now. Iasan hissed, then spoke in a surprisingly mellow voice. "You're lucky that rogue was there. Surprises me, actually. Warriors usually aren't so cruel for no reason, and Rogues usually are." Arlo then raised his outstretched hand towards her, mumbling a prayer under his breath, and his hand glowed golden. Ven gasped as the soreness in her ribs and stomach lessened, then vanished completely. Arlo turned, motioning for his students to follow, leaving a cloud of white smoke behind him.

"Venjanca. Ivan mentioned me by name, did he?" When Ven replied affirmatively, he sighed, yet another small cloud of smoke leaving his mouth. "That dwarf doesn't belong in the Alliance. He's a stain on his class. I believe he's still holding a grudge against me for stopping him from murdering a Tauren Paladin our unit captured a few months ago. He must've seen you following me into town…" He trailed off. I'm sorry, Ven. I would've taken you with me if I'd known he was lurking around. But that rogue… What did you say his name was?"

"Satoshi. He gave me an attunement crystal, too." She said, pulling the crystal out of her pocket. Arlo nodded, then turned to Iasan. "Iasan, I just realized I forgot to pick up a bag for her. Give her one of your empty ones. Introduce yourself while you're at it." Muttering under his breath, the younger paladin did as he was told, handing her his large brown sack. Then he smiled politely. I'm Iasan. Pleased to meet you. And are you really seventeen? You're so short." Venjanca huffed, tying the bag to her belt. "I'm really seventeen." She said, grinning. And my name's Venjanca. How old are you?"

"Yes, I had gathered that. And I'm eighteen." He replied dryly. Arlo turned his head, blowing out a stream of smoke. "You'll find that Iasan is a dedicated smartass, Ven. Feel free to slap him around. He doesn't hit women." Iasan snickered quietly. "I don't see any women." Seeing Ven drop the crystal into her bag, he added; "That bag is enchanted, by the way. It fits objects of any size, but it only accepts a set number. In this case, twelve. It's quite useful." He then leaned back in a quick, fluid motion as Ven tried to cuff him for his earlier jibe. Chuckling at her, he stopped giving advice and kept walking. The group reached the edge of a small stream, then, and Arlo stopped them. It was beginning to get dark, and there were Gnolls prowling in the forest on the other side.

"We'll make camp here. We're after those Gnolls, and I'd rather not have you getting killed trying to fight in the dark." He said, nodding towards Ven. An hour later, they were sitting around a meager fire, eating, while Arlo and Iasan went over their plan of attack for the next day, Venjanca listening as if her life depended on it - It probably would. Afterwards, they unpacked travel blankets, spread them out on the ground, and slept on them(Except for Iasan, who ended up offering Venjanca his blanket, as Arlo hadn't been able to find one for her. He was sitting back against a tree, snoring quietly. His chivalry had surprised Ven, considering his earlier attitude.)


	4. Chapter 4

((Sorry I've been gone so long, to those of you who have been waiting. I lost my computer for a while, and now I'm having to write on my iPod, then mail to myself, download, and reupload. I can't promise quick updates, but I will do my best. Enjoy this new chapter!))

Venjanca woke up the next morning, just before sunrise, to the sound of birds chirping in the trees around the camp. Beginning to rise out of her blanket, then realizing that Arlo and Iasan were still asleep, she laid back on her back, resting her head on her hands, delighting in the music of the woodland. Birds chirping, squirrels chattering, and the running of the stream, the forest slowly beginning to wake, trees swaying and rustling, stretching in the morning breeze.

She grinned to herself, amazed at how much her fortunes had changed in the space of two short days. From desperate street urchin to Paladin in training, with a brief stint as a punching bag thrown in for good measure. Her ribs were still tender. But that was done, and she saw no sense in dwelling on it. Instead, she raised herself up from her blanket, stretched luxuriously, and began to fetch her new armor from her bag.

After taking a moment to admire it (She realized it was quite low end, as far as armor was concerned, but damn it, it was her armor, and she was proud.), she began to inspect her sword, hefting it, waving it around slowly, familiarizing herself with it. The sun was shining through the trees now, glinting off her armor, and she laid her sword off to the side, still sheathed, and put her armor on. It was an awkward process at first, as she had never touched a piece of armor before yesterday, but Ven was a sharp girl, and she quickly figured it out. Then, strapping her shield onto her left arm, drawing her sword, she began to practice.

She gave her blade a few experimental swipes through the air, grinning, then stabbed into the trunk of a nearby tree, loosing a restrained battle cry. After all, as far as she knew, Arlo and Iasan were still asleep, and she was in no hurry to wake them. Yanking at her sword in an attempt to free it, she slipped and fell on her rear, cursing under her breath. Standing and wrapping both hands around the blade's hilt, she pulled with all her might - And gave a wild cry of surprise as Iasan covered her eyes with his hands, yelling "GOOD MORNING!" into her ear.

Flailing wildly, Venjanca twisted around, throwing herself back, her sword flying into the air. She missed the tree, thankfully for her head, but as she fell over onto her back for the second time in as many minutes, flailing and berating Iasan, she saw the morning sun glint off bright steel. She tried to move herself out of the incoming sword's way, but it was too late. Her blade sliced the left side of her neck as it impaled the turf, quivering for a moment before standing straight. Iasan, who had been watching the scene unfold in mute horror, too far away to catch the blade, finally released the breath he had been holding and ran over to Venjanca, eyes wide.

"I... Ven, a-are you alright?" He asked, inspecting Venjanca, who was staring at her sword silently, the cut on her neck reddening the grass. Seeing this, Iasan gingerly pulled the blade away from Ven, sheathing it and rushing to help her up. Once on her feet, Venjanca stared at Iasan with a curious, calculating calm in her eyes, ran a hand over the cut, and gently laid her hands on his shoulders.

"Iasan, I just wanted you to know something." she said, her strange calm showing in her voice.

"I - What is it?" He asked, not sure what to do.

Then his vision blacked out for a split second, only to return the next, blurry and obscured by the stars he was seeing. Venjanca, in her cold anger, had taken Iasan's shoulders in preparation for a brutal headbutt. There was blood running freely from his nose, he still couldn't see straight, and Ven then proceeded to grab a fistful of his hair.

"You - Are - An - ASSHOLE!" She screamed, punctuating each word with a right hook. "I almost died, you idiot! I know you saw me holding that sword, too! The hell is wrong with you, Iasan? Are you this stupid on purpose, or can you just not help it!" She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, then noticed that Iasan was not making any effort to defend himself, only staring guiltily at the ground, nose still leaking. Yelling inarticulately and hitting him one more time, she turned and stalked back to her blanket, rolling it up furiously.

At this point, Arlo, who had woken up at Iasan's yell, stepped over to Ven and healed the cut on her neck, which had been bleeding steadily. He then handed her a small towel, pointing to her armor, which was glistening red on the left shoulder.

"Don't let it get rusty." He said, retrieving her sword for her, before walking over to Iasan. "You deserved that, you know." He said, healing Iasan's nose, then moving to the quickly swelling lump on the side of his head. "An inch more, and she'd have been dead before I could've healed her."

Iasan only nodded, his usual teasing sarcasm noticeably absent. Arlo, seeing no reason to make him feel any worse, marched over to his blanket and began to pack it up, motioning for Iasan to follow suit. "We're after those Gnolls today, remember? Got to get moving. We've slept long enough."

Iasan walked back to where he had been sleeping and donned his armor, strapping his sword to his side and falling in behind Arlo, who had slept in his armor. Ven was the last to fall in, rubbing her neck and glaring. They crossed the stream quickly, then paused in a clump of shrubbery, hiding them from view while Arlo explained their plan.

"Right." He said, nodding towards Ven. "You stay behind me. You're not ready to fight yet, so just stand back and watch us." He turned to Iasan, nodding. "You and I will be doing the fighting. Keep an eye out for any stragglers." With that, he stood, motioning for his students to follow. Weapons drawn, they advanced on their target, a group of seven Gnolls who were busily picking at the remains of what appeared to be a cow. Ven slipped behind Arlo, as instructed, holding her sword out and slightly to the side, wary of it after the earlier incident.

Then, one of the Gnolls looked up and saw them, and it was on. The Gnoll yelped in surprise and indignation at the unexpected intrusion, which made it's companions look up as well. All seven went for their weapons, and all but the one who had first noticed them made it. His alarm had cost him valuable time, and Iasan ran him through before he could reach his axe. The others gave a cry of rage, jumping on Iasan as a group and bringing him to the ground. It would have gone badly for him then, but Arlo crushed the skull of one with his hammer.

Two of the remaining Gnolls charged Arlo, tomahawks raised, while Iasan, who had taken this opportunity to roll to his feet, squared off with one more. The remaining two were advancing on Venjanca, who now had her back to a nearby tree and was holding her sword in front of her, visibly shivering.

"I... Don't suppose we can t-talk this over?" She stammered to the nearest Gnoll, who only snickered and raised his tomahawk, taking another step towards her. Pushing her back closer to the tree behind her, she snuck a quick glance at Iasan and Arlo. Arlo was steadily advancing on the survivor of the two who had attacked him, while Iasan seemed to be toying with his opponent. Neither appeared to notice her plight, and she was about to call out for help, but her Gnolls took her distraction as an opportunity to attack.

The first one ran at her, screaming wildly and swinging it's tomahawk. She quickly backpedaled onto a tree root, toppling onto her back for the third time that day - But who was counting? Certainly not Ven. She may have been, but I rather think she was too preoccupied to add to the tally at that particular moment. Instead, she yelled in fear and held her sword point outward in front of her body like a wand. As it happened, this move saved her life. The Gnoll had jumped into the air when it saw that she had fallen, intent on delivering airborne coup de grace, only to impale itself on her blade.

The remaining Gnoll, seeing his fellow's death, backed away a few steps and raised it's tomahawk defensively, eyeing Ven warily as she frantically scrambled to her feet and tried to pull the dead Gnoll off her weapon. Seeing her helplessness and realizing that his partner's death had been a fluke, it gave a cry of rage, lunging at her. Venjanca threw her hands up, palms flat facing her enemy, and slammed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth. But the expected axeblow never fell. Instead, there was only a weak whine and a muffled thump.

Opening one eye slowly, she saw that the Gnoll was now lying dead in the grass, two crossbow bolts protruding from it's spine. Iasan was standing a few yards behind it, with Arlo mere feet behind him, each holding a small crossbow and staring at Ven with clear concern.

"Ven, you... You're not bleeding, are you?" Iasan asked, lowering his crossbow and walking towards her. "I - What do you mean?" she responded, patting herself down frantically. When her palm came away from her chest smeared with blood, she turned pale, slowly looking down to see what damage had been done. The front of her armor was almost completely red, and she gasped at the sight, trying to figure out when she had been wounded, and how bad it was.

Inspecting herself, she realized that she hadn't been wounded at all. The Gnoll who had impaled himself of her sword had simply bled on her. She thought about that for a nauseous moment, then sat down and put her head between her knees, groaning softly.

By then, the others had reached her, and they pulled her to her feet, eyeing her worriedly. "Venjanca, are you alright?" Arlo asked, looking her over. "How bad is it?" Realizing that she wasn't helping their unwarranted anxiety with her silence, she forced herself to her feet, smiling nauseously. "I'm f-fine, sorry." She stammered, leaning slightly on the tree. "Just a little... Queasy."

Iasan looked at the blood on her, then at the dead Gnoll, and seemed to understand. He looked less worried, at any rate. He seemed about to say something, but Arlo cut in before he could.

"Bang up job on those stragglers, Iasan. Though, I suppose all's well that ends well." He said, strapping his hammer to his side. "Ven, wipe your sword off, or it'll rust. Besides, it'll get your mind off the blood. We'll be heading back to Goldshire after this to pick up our reward, then we'll start through Westfall, and I'll start teaching you how to fight. You've been lucky so far, but that never lasts."

"Yeah... Yeah." Ven said, cleaning her blade and sheathing it. Then Deathwing roasted them alive on his way to Stormwind, and the conversation became moot.

Just kidding. Though I admit, I have considered ending the series like that just so I could see how people reacted. Anyway, the trio then began their walk back to Goldshire, after Arlo took a Gnoll head as proof of their success. Ven, reflecting on the events of the past two days, began to wonder if the Light she was soon to study was watching over her.

Iasan, still feeling guilty about nearly killing Ven(Her reaction notwithstanding), was walking as quietly as he could manage behind and slightly to the side of the group, while Arlo, ever eloquent, was busily cleaning the wax from his ears with a small rag.


	5. Chapter 5

As the party walked into Goldshire, Arlo pointed to a man standing in front of the town blacksmith, leaning on a post with a wanted poster nailed to it. "That's Marshal Dughan. He's the one we'll be turning this Gnoll in to." Here, he shook the sack containing the Gnoll head he had taken. "Ven, you do the honors. Me and Iasan are going to get more supplies." He said, thrusting the foul smelling bag at her. Understandably, she recoiled, but relented when Arlo raised his eyebrows, shaking the sack insistently.

Pinching her nose shut, she took the bag gingerly in her free hand, walking over to the Marshal and handing him the sack. "Ah, what's this?" He said, eyeing Ven suspiciously. Still pinching her nose shut, she mumbled back. "Gol." Now of course, the good Marshal had no idea what a Gol was, and just stared at Ven. "Eh-hum. I have absolutely no idea what you're on about, child. Speak up, I want to get back to my post."

Huffing and taking her hand off her nose, Ven repeated herself. "I said Gnoll, Marshal. My teacher and me and Iasan just cleared out a camp of them... There was a bounty on them, right?" She said, forgetting that there was no reason Dughan should know the name. Luckily for her, he did know the name, besides seeing the two of them standing a few feet behind her, having bought the supplies in record time. Scratching his chin thoughtfully, he took the sack from Ven( Who was not at all sad to part with it), then smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you, little girl. I have no idea who this Iasan person or your teacher are, but you've done Goldshire a great service this day. I never would've thought you capable, honestly. Guess we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover!" Here, he ruffled Ven's hair affectionately, then began to gently shoo her away.

"Run along now, girl. I've got business to attend to, you know." He said amiably, while Ven simply stared at him, dumbfounded. "A-aren't you supposed to give us some reward for this?" She said, aghast. "Those things nearly killed me!" Marshal Dughan only looked surprised for a moment, then seemed to be appalled at himself. "Oh, how rude of me! Of course, I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me! Here you go, girl. I even threw in a little extra."

Saying this, he happily plopped a ball of yarn and a large piece of lint into Venjanca's open hands. Her expectant expression turned to one of shock. "What the Nether?" She exclaimed, staring at the yarn, clearly agitated. "Why the hell were you even carrying a ball of yarn!" She almost yelled. The Marshal looked almost confused now. "I thought little girls loved yarn! And really, who doesn't like lint?"

Looking to her companions for assistance, Ven saw that they were struggling to keep from doubling over with laughter. Turning back to the Marshal furiously, she saw that he too was no longer able to contain himself, leaning on the post and snickering loudly. Finally realizing that she had been made a fool of, Venjanca threw the yarn at Dughan, ever so calmly strolled back to her party and stood next to Arlo, her face devoid of expression.

Remembering what had happened the last time she had looked so calm, Iasan took a few cautious steps back, still grinning. Finally, Arlo stepped forward and retrieved their real reward, a small coin purse stuffed with silver and copper pieces. Marshal Dughan, face red from laughing, turned to Ven. "What's your name, kid? I haven't laughed like that in weeks." She sighed, still perilously calm. "Venjanca. That was a real funny joke, sir." He chuckled, eyes twinkling. "Thanks for being such a sport. See you around!"

She was still aggravated - After all, she seemed to be turning into the group's comedy source, but the Marshal was too friendly to really stay mad at. Besides, something told her it would be a bad idea to try. So, she waved along with Arlo and Iasan as they began to march out of town on the road to Westfall. It was just reaching midday now, and the Sun was reaching it's highest, hottest point in the sky.

The corners of her mouth began to tilt upward in spite of her mood. True, she hated being the subject of everyone's jokes, but considering how bad off she had been a few short days ago, she couldn't complain. Her cheeks, which had been hollow and sunken, had begun to fill out. She got to sleep under a blanket for the first time since leaving the orphanage. The bags under her eyes were getting smaller, and for once in her life, she wasn't hungry. Hell, she might even be able to bathe soon.

Arlo turned his head around now, puffing on a cigar. "You're going to be sparring with Iasan starting today. We can't have you fighting like you did this morning, you'll get one of us killed." Iasan nodded sagely, carefully cleaning his afro with a small comb. Turning to face Ven, he began to speak as well. "If I'm not mistaken, we're going to be spending some time training you before we fight again. But for now, why don't you tell us about yourself?" He asked.

"Well..." She sighed, then told him everything she had previously told Arlo. Now, as her past had already been told, I do not feel the need to tell it again. When she was finished, she quirked an eyebrow at Iasan.

"Your turn, buddy." She said, half grinning. Iasan, who had been about to comment, closed his mouth and thought for a moment. Then, he shrugged and began to speak. "Well, I have to admit, I've had a much less interesting life than you. I'm the third and youngest child of my family. My father is a Warrior, and my mother is a Paladin. I was born and raised in Ironforge, and the Paladins there taught me until Arlo took me on as a student."

Iasan may not have thought of his story as terribly interesting, but Venjanca, who had never been farther from Stormwind than where they were at that moment, most certainly did. "What's Ironforge like?" She asked excitedly, and then, without waiting for an answer, began to pepper Iasan with questions, when Arlo interrupted, somewhat indignantly.

"How come nobody asked me anything?" He protested, blowing a large smoke ring. "I've had more adventures then the two of you put together!" Ven, honestly interested, turned to him then, walking in between her companions. "So, tell us!" She chirped. Arlo only chuckled, however, blowing another smoke ring. "I never said I was going to tell you, you know. I just felt a bit insulted you didn't ask." He chuckled again, and Ven, the butt of yet another joke, huffed and began to ask Iasan more questions.

And so it went, so that by the time they made camp in the late afternoon, Iasan was seriously contemplating knocking Ven out just to shut her up, while Arlo had long since donned a pair of earplugs, effectively blocking out anything below a yell. As they finished setting up their tents,(One of the things Arlo and Iasan had picked up) Arlo took out his earplugs, pulled two light, wooden training swords from his pack, and strode over to Ven and Iasan, handing Iasan a sword and tapping Ven on the head with the other until she finally stopped talking.

"Right." He said, handing the sword to Ven. "You and Iasan are going to spar now. Don't worry, he'll go easy on you." With this, he motioned for the two of them to back a few large steps away from each other, then sighed and stepped over to correct Ven, who was holding her training sword like a stick. After correcting her stance and grip,(Something he realized he'd be doing countless times over the next few days) Arlo stepped back and nodded to the pair.

"Sparring time. Iasan, you attack first, but go easy."

Iasan, who already knew what was happening, lunged at Ven, jabbing her in the gut before she had registered what Arlo said. Her chain mail protected her from the worst of it, but she still had the wind knocked out of her and promptly dropped her training sword and doubled over, clutching her stomach and gasping for air. Now, you must not think too badly of Iasan. He wasn't taking advantage of Ven's confusion, simply because he had no idea she was confused.

He had sparred with Arlo many times before, and he had learned that when he was given first move, he had best take it. He had assumed that Ven would be ready. Seeing that his first attack had toppled her, he stood back, waiting for her to rise. But, she never did. Ven only whimpered pitifully, curled up in a ball on the ground, arms wrapped around her stomach. Iasan, beginning to think he had really hurt her, set his sword down and put a careful hand on her shoulder, bending over to help her up.

That was his first mistake. Instead of letting him help her up, Ven yelled and tackled his legs, her body a scarlet - hued ball of fury. Capitalizing on her advantage, she quickly drove her knee into his groin, then grabbed his training sword and began to beat him with it, wielding it like a club. Iasan, however, was much bigger and stronger then Venjanca, and once he forced himself to ignore the pain, he simply grabbed Ven's arm as it came down for another swing, forcing her down as he rose.

Then, on his feet, he twisted Ven's arm behind her back and yanked the sword out of her hand, pinning her. Exhaling painfully, he began to speak. "Good job, Ven. As dirty as that was, I have to admit it was clever..." Releasing her and stepping back, he took up his stance and waited for her to retrieve her sword. Arlo chuckled. "Well, Iasan, I guess the only unfair fight is the one you lose." he said, smiling. He gave the signal for them to go again, and the pair began to circle each other slowly, Venjanca looking nervous and apprehensive, and Iasan no longer believing she actually was.

Iasan took another quick stab, which Ven barely dodged. "You have a shield, Venjanca!" Arlo yelled, making her jump and hide behind said shield, eyes peeking over it's top. Lunging forward, Iasan hammered her shield out of the way with his own, then swung a blow that would've taken Ven's arm off at the elbow if he had been using a real sword. She grunted, dropped her sword, and staggered back, trying to hold her shield in front of her body and barely managing.

Iasan, knowing a beaten opponent when he saw one, stepped forward and set his right foot behind Ven, then shoved her back so she tripped over it, falling flat on her back. He pinned her with the point of his training sword, smiling wickedly. "I don't think you'll be able to pull off that trick with the crying in the field, Ven. Most foes would only see it as an opportunity for an easy kill."

With that, he stepped back, waiting once again for Venjanca to rise. Instead, Arlo stopped the sparring and pulled Ven to the side. "Iasan, practice on your own. I need to teach Ven basic stances and the like." He said, handing her training sword. For the rest of the day, the group drilled, practiced, and sparred. Ven, despite being the novice of the group, turned out to be a quick learner. By the end of the day, she knew how to hold her weapons properly, along with a few basic offensive and defensive stances.

Then, as they were preparing to sleep, weary one and all, Arlo informed his students that they would be staying put for the next two weeks, and that they would be well advised to train hard, in preparation for their next challenge: The Defias Brotherhood. There had been reports recently of a resurgence in the group, and Arlo had decided to investigate.


	6. Chapter 6

Venjanca sighed, stretching her arms and wincing. She had been training on her own for the past two hours, and the sun was just beginning to rise. Her arms were sore, and the healing spell she had learned wasn't helping very much. It had been a month now since she had left Stormwind, and though the group hadn't moved much in spite of Arlo's saying they would only be stationary for two weeks(They were only about a mile away from the camp they had set up near the border of Westfall after the Gnoll bounty), Ven almost felt like a different person.

She was much stronger, for one thing. A month of regular, full meals and rigorous exercise had transformed her, from a starved street urchin to a strong, healthy young woman. She now had no trouble holding her shield and sword, and her armor, which had dragged her down(Though she never would have admitted it), now felt more like a second skin with each passing day. Furthermore, she had trained herself to wake up two hours before sunrise, when Arlo and Iasan rose, time she spent practicing.

She could hold her own against Iasan now, though she had a feeling he still went easy on her a little bit in their sparring. Well, she supposed she'd catch him eventually. Until then, she would just have to train twice as hard as he did. She picked her sword off the ground, sheathing it. Today was going to be an interesting day. There was a growing group of Defias following them at a safe distance, and they had decided to engage them before they got too big to handle.

Arlo had been taking his time about really going after the Defias, trying to buy more time for Ven to get up to speed. The Brotherhood had other ideas, though. The few skirmishes they had been in had highlighted her as the weakest member of the group, and she had been warned that they would probably be targeting her specifically - Which was actually a large part of the reason she was putting so much training in. She had mostly hung back as the others fought so far, but she knew that couldn't last. Especially not today.

At her last count, there had been nine of them, and frankly, Ven was worried that there were already too many. She would have to count again when the sun was finished rising. They always seemed to multiply under cover of darkness. For now, though, she went to wake Arlo and Iasan. Arlo silently went about packing up the camp, yawning and scratching himself at odd intervals. Iasan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stared at Ven for a moment, eyebrows furrowed.

"Been training in the middle of the night again?" He said, rising and stretching. "You should lay off that for a bit. We're going to be otherwise occupied very soon, by the look of things." It was much lighter already, so Ven snuck a glance at the last place she had seen the enemy. There were about fourteen of them now, and they had moved a good deal closer. She could just barely hear them talking now, though of course she couldn't hear what they were saying.

Ven exchanged a worried stare with Iasan, then turned to tell Arlo, only to see that he had postponed packing up the camp to put his armor on, and was just then tightening the straps on his chest piece. Ven was already in her armor due to her early morning training, so all that remained was for Iasan to armor up. Ven and Arlo quickly packed the camp up while he did so. Nobody was saying anything now, but Venjanca and Iasan kept exchanging worried, tense looks with each other, and glancing back at the Defias.

Arlo, who was much more familiar with these things, seemed pointedly disinterested. This had a reassuring effect on his students, and once they were packed up, and once they started out, heading for a steep hill a short march away. Ven, who knew nothing about terrain advantage despite the effort she had been pouring into her training, wasn't sure why, and it must have been showing, because Iasan turned to her to explain. "If we can reach that hill before they reach us, we have a chance of holding them off." he said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Not a terribly good chance, but a much better one than on the open plain." Arlo added, marching on towards the hill. The truth is, calm as he seemed on the outside, Arlo was cursing himself inwardly for giving the Defias the chance to gather reinforcements. He just knew better than to let it show, lest he make his students panic. He looked back over his shoulder and swore under his breath. The enemy had noticed what they were trying to do, and they were jogging after them, catching up at a fair pace in their light armor.

Arlo took his pack off and threw it to the ground, motioning for his students to do the same. The chase was on. The three of them marched on as quickly as they could, not being able to run in their heavy armor.(Or rather, knowing they'd be so exhausted by the time they got there if they ran, that they might as well surrender.) They were almost there now, but the Defias, much faster in their light armor, were close enough now that their jeers could clearly be heard. Arlo turned, stretching out a glowing palm and yelling something Ven didn't understand. There was a flash of Light, and one of the Defias leading the pack dropped, smoke curling up from his chest.

The others slowed down, trying to stay out of range, as Arlo stood at the foot of the hill, waiting for Ven and Iasan to climb it. Once they did, he clambered up, Iasan covering him with his crossbow. Ven drew her sword and shield, and Arlo his hammer, his free hand glowing dangerously bright golden. The Defias sat safely out of range, fanning out and surrounding the hill with a thin line. Iasan carefully set his sword down next to him, keeping his bow ready in his free hand.

The Defias, the twelve remaining, were sitting at the bottom of the hill, staring patiently up at the trapped Paladins. Ven counted them again, confused. Hadn't there been fourteen last time she had counted? True, Arlo had killed one, but that still left one unaccounted for. She voiced her concern to her comrades, who proceeded to count the enemy again, thinking. "I... Light, he must've gone for reinforcements. They're not even going to give us a sporting chance." Iasan said ruefully.

Arlo chuckled dryly. "Why would they? This isn't a game." He said, looking over their opponents. They were laughing at the group now, jeering and taunting. One of the leaders, a lithe, clever looking woman with shoulder length blonde hair and a nasty grin, stepped forward, cupping her hands over her mouth so that her voice carried. "Hey ginger, why don't you leave those two fools and join up with us? I'll treat you _real_ nice." She laughed nastily, and made a sign with her hands that I refuse to dignify with a description.

Venjanca, I am sorry to say, fired back with something equally vile, and was preparing to give a rather rude description of Blondie's lineage, when Iasan put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. "Don't." He said. "If we're going to die, we may as well do it with some dignity. Besides, her friends are getting close. Save your energy for them."

He pointed off to the East, where, sure enough, five more Defias were quickly making their way to join the group surrounding the hill. Once they arrived, they brought out a long coil of rope and set it off to the side, then joined their compatriots in an advance on the hill. At this point, Arlo, who had been praying under his breath for the past two or so minutes, eyes closed, palms upward at his sides, threw both hands up facing the knot of newly arrived Defias.

His palms shone golden with the power of the Light in them, which then blasted outward, engulfing the new arrivals, plus two of the others unlucky enough to be standing nearby. They gave a short, anguished shriek and collapsed, smoking and glowing golden. Arlo sank to his knees, exhausted. The remaining Defias, Blondie included, stared in horror at the destruction for a moment, backpedaling a few steps and staring at Arlo.

Realizing that he was out of the fight, they breathed a collective sigh of relief and began to advance again, grinning all. Iasan turned to Ven, inexplicably grinning as well. "So, ten of them left now." He said, looking away to shoot his crossbow at Blondie, who deflected it with a cruel looking dagger. "They're gonna need at least twenty more." Hearing this, Ven couldn't help but laugh, a shallow, nervous laugh. "I think they'll need at least ten for your hair and another fifteen for your ego, buddy." She snorted.

Then they were fighting, and there was no more time for jokes. Ven's first opponent, a thin, handsome man with glossy black hair and piercing blue eyes, launched a low kick at her shin, trying to throw her off balance, or send her crashing to the ground. She lifted her armored foot, then brought it down hard on the man's heel, snapping his leg just below the knee and sending him to the ground, shrieking in agony. She didn't get a chance to finish him, instead ducking behind her shield, glancing a heavy slash from another Defias man's sword off it.

The man, who was about the same size as his fallen comrade, but much more powerfully built, swung again, meeting the same result, then threw his shoulder against her shield, staggering her. He then pushed her shield off to her side and grabbed her by the throat. Ven stabbed him through the heart, then backed up - Only to find her sword arm suddenly twisted behind her back, her sword falling to the ground. Blondie grabbed Ven by the hair with her other hand, forcing her to the ground, facedown.

She was just starting to dig her knees into Ven's back when her weight suddenly disappeared. Ven sat up and grabbed a discarded knife, confused, then saw the reason; Arlo, somewhat recovered, had tackled Blondie, then been dog piled by the last five Defias. Iasan was tied up a few feet away from her, and she ran over to him, sawing through the ropes on his hands with the knife she had found. She was almost through them, when she felt someone yank her leg back, throwing her off balance. It was the man who's leg she had broken. She cursed, lopping his head off. Turning back to her task, she was just setting her knife into the cut she had made before, when she was disturbed yet again.

Blondie(Who seemed to have a special place in her heart for Venjanca) yanked her back by her hair, twisting the knife out of her hand when she tried to stab her with it. She laughed cruelly, rolling Ven over. "Rope!" She called to one of the survivors, who picked up the leftover rope and carried it over to her. "Here. Truss her up. Dumb little bitch thought she was getting away." She said, holding Ven's arms while her subordinate tightened her bonds. Then, after she was securely tied, Blondie waltzed over to her, pulled out a red bandanna, and blindfolded her with it.

The last thing she heard was the sound of a fight - Apparently, Iasan had gotten free thanks to her nearly successful effort to sever his bonds. Someone picked her up, and she felt them running with her, so she began to yell and curse, trying to attract as much attention as possible. Her only reward was a swift blow to the head. She continued to yell, weaker now, dizzy. Then, she felt something slam into the back of her head, and she knew no more for a long time.

((Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope I'm not giving too many hints, but life is about to get very interesting for Ven. Yeah. That's sufficiently vague. I'm good.))


End file.
